Andover comedian launches book series to raise awareness of dyslexia

Brad Ball, who lives in Fyfield, is dyslexic himself and wants to prove to children that the learning difficulty, which can cause problems with reading, writing and spelling, is not a disability.

The 46-year-old has recently scaled back his hours at a cosmetic company to launch The Tiny World of Massive Magic, a series of books and a website that takes its readers through a magical adventure, as well as teaching people about dyslexia.

“The whole idea was trying to come up with something that parents enjoy reading to children,” Brad said. “My child has grown up now, but I have two nieces which is where it all started.”

After writing his first book for his nieces, they soon demanded more.

“At the moment we’ve got nine books and five others that have been written and are getting ready to be published. We only released the website last week.

“When I was younger, dyslexia wasn’t a thing, schools thought you were just stupid.

“My son was diagnosed with dyslexia and they handled it a lot better. A lot of people don’t realise that one in 16 have got it.

“I never knew I had dyslexia until I was in my 30s. I was asking my 8-year-old how to spell worlds.

“My brother who was very academic said I could be dyslexic. I always thought my son was a genius!”

Brad, who also represented Great Britain at kick-boxing, continued: “Dyslexia is not stupidity, but if it isn’t caught, they tell the children you’ve got to do better. If a child is told so many times that they’re not very good at English or they’re stupid, which many children are, that’s what they think they are.

“Don’t let anybody take your dreams away, don’t let anybody tell you to stop daydreaming. It’s only the people with limited imaginations that try to impose your limitations on you.”

Brad says he wants to turn the books into films, and use the money he would make to help other people and become “the world’s biggest philanthropist”.